Lost and Found
by Nessa Luinwe
Summary: Damon has been living as far away from Elena and Stefan as he can get, but when a surprise visit from an unexpected person occurs, will he return? And what choices will he make if he does? Some bad language in the first chapter, but otherwise it's clean.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Ok, please read and review because it's my first fanfic. That's right, I'm a newbie, so please be gentle. Although I don't mind constructive criticism, because it makes me a better writer. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any of the characters in this story, except for the giggly blonde in the first chapter.**

Damon Salvatore closed his eyes and breathed in slowly and deeply; leaning back against the pillows on his bed; his arm draped around the shoulders of a blond haired, blue-eyed girl he'd only just met the night before; long, slender fingers curled around a cigarette. The deep breathing, though it wasn't at all necessary for a vampire, was the only thing keeping him from throttling the bubbly, talkative girl lying beside him.

"Daddy would SO not approve of this!" she giggled, her hand resting on Damon's bare chest and her fingers stroking his smooth, pale skin. "I mean, he'd go crazy if he knew I was even talking to a complete stranger, never mind…" She broke off and giggled again, looking up at him with an expression of sickly sweet adoration that probably would have earned her a quick death, had Damon seen it. As it was, he didn't even turn his head, or give any sign that he'd heard her. She didn't seem to mind, and continued talking.

"But he'll calm down once he gets to know you. In fact, you can meet him this afternoon. He's coming for dinner. We could be like a little family!"

Damon opened his eyes and took the biggest breath he had taken so far. He held it in, eyes fixed on the insanely garish pattern on the wall opposite him.

"I could even ask him to let you move in with me for a bit! You know, just until you get back on your feet, after all that business with your ex. It'll be so great! And I know Daddy won't mind, not after he knows what you're like. He'll like the fact that you're rich, at least. I'm not saying that's what I like about you, of course not. I shouldn't really tell him what it is I like about you."

Damon removed his arm from around the girl's shoulders and took a drag from the cigarette, blowing the smoke out through his nostrils. His voice soft and icy, he said, "Get out."

The girl's wide smile twitched. "What?"

"I said get out. Get dressed, get your stuff and get out."

The smile disappeared. "But Damon, why? What's wrong? What have I—?"

"I said get the fuck out!" He felt his face change, his teeth growing longer, and he snarled to give his words more emphasis, just in case the girl still misunderstood his meaning. Looking at him in horror, she leapt off the bed, grabbed the remainder of her clothes and ran out the door without even bothering to put the rest of her clothes on.

Damon realised with a wry grin that he didn't even know her name.

As he felt his face return to normal, he got off the bed, walked over to the door and slammed it shut, turning and leaning against it with a heavy sigh. Taking another drag on the cigarette, he closed his eyes again.

"Fuck it."


	2. Chapter 2

"And then, once I've finished University, I want to travel. Maybe to Paris, I'm not really sure. There are just so many opportunities in Paris, you know? To be a fashion designer, of course. Because that's what I think I want to be. Or at least, to work with fashion in some way, because my best friend, Louise, she said…"

The girl's voice faded away from Damon's ears as he took another drink from the almost empty glass on the bar in front of him. He realised that he was becoming increasingly adept at ignoring girls that talked too much lately. Of course, it was he who made sure that these girls got involved with him in the first place, but why did he always seemed to end up with the dizziest, most vacant girls? It was almost getting too much to bear, and if he had to keep telling the "I just got out of a bad relationship and my ex treated me badly, that's why I'm so moody" story one more time, he felt certain he'd have to stake himself.

But anything was better than the alternative.

"Damon?" He raised his head. The girl was looking at him quizzically, and he realised he hadn't got the slightest idea what she'd just said to him.

Smiling quickly to mask his annoyance, he replied, "Yes?"

The girl smiled back at him, a wide smile that revealed her pristine white teeth. "I asked you to tell me about yourself a bit more. You know, what you do for a job, where you live, that sort of thing. It seems like I hardly know anything about you." She tilted her head to the side and her long blonde hair fell down her back like a curtain.

_That's probably because you've only just met me and there is no chance that I'd tell an empty-headed doll like you, or anyone else, for that matter, anything at all about me, _Damon thought to himself dryly, but he answered with the smoothness and charm that he'd perfected centuries ago.

"I like to travel too." His eyes focused on her exposed neck, and he thought about how much he'd love to sink his teeth into it and be done with her, but he kept the urge under control and continued speaking. "I never stay too long in one place, so I have no real job." He smiled another disturbingly brilliant smile. "I guess you could say I'm a wanderer."

The look on the girl's face was exactly what he wanted to see. Complete fascination and awe. _I think she's been the easiest so far, _he thought, satisfied with a job well done.

"A wanderer, hey?" The girl grinned. "Tall, dark, handsome and unattached—just the way I like 'em."

Damon didn't trust himself to speak, so he just maintained the smile and inclined his head.

Bright blue eyes sparkling, the girl continued. "So are you doing anything else tonight? Maybe we could go wandering together, see where we end up." She leaned towards him. "I like mystery."

Damon was about to reply with something less insulting than what was running through his head at that particular time, but he never got the chance. Someone had pushed in-between them and stood at the bar, forcing the girl to move backwards and saving Damon from having to bite his tongue.

The girl looked incredibly annoyed. "Er, excuse me? Do you mind? We're trying to have a conversation here!"

There was no answer, and Damon briefly turned his attention to the figure at the bar. It was another girl, but whereas the girl Damon had picked up had pale blonde hair (like every other girl he picked up lately), the new girl had jet black hair. He couldn't see her face, as she was turned away from him and her hair hid it from view, but he had a feeling she wouldn't be like most of the Barbie dolls around this place.

The blonde girl tried again. "Hello? Are you deaf or something? Because I'd kind of like an apology from you for interrupting me and my boyfriend."

Damon raised his eyebrows. _You're that easy that you think a guy's your boyfriend if the first date goes well? I really have got to start trying harder._

His earlier feeling about the black haired girl was right when she turned to look at the blonde girl and replied, "Firstly, no, I'm not deaf. Secondly, if I know anything at all about _him_," she gestured behind her to Damon, "he's not your boyfriend. And thirdly, I didn't come here to speak to an overdressed bitch like you." The blonde girl gasped. "I came to speak to Damon."

Damon's eyebrows shot up again, and then came back down, veiling his surprise in a look of curious interest.

"Have we met?" he asked mildly.

"You could say that." The black haired girl turned to look at him, and Damon very nearly lost his mask of self-control. He took several deep breaths before saying, quite calmly and with no hint of the shock he had just experienced,

"Meredith."

**Author's note: Just thought I'd let you know that I have no idea where this story's headed. I'm kind of making it up as I go along. So sorry if it's not very good, and all ideas for different directions in which to take it are gratefully received! Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

The blonde turned and glared at Damon angrily. "You know her?" she said, pointing accusingly at Meredith.

Damon flashed a killer smile. "You could say that."

Meredith snorted in reply.

The blonde was stood with a hand on her hip, head inclined to the side. "Well? Who the hell is she?"

Damon shrugged nonchalantly. "An old acquaintance."

"She seems more than an old acquaintance to me!" The girl was practically shrieking now. People stood around the bar near them were turning around in surprise and interest.

Without letting a drop of the annoyance that simmered inside him show, Damon looked the blonde in the eyes. He took a chance on remembering her name.

"Listen, Jessica—"

"Jennifer," the blonde hissed.

Damon paused, and then continued through gritted teeth. "Jennifer," he managed to say pleasantly. "I don't really think you and I are going to work out, do you?" The girl started to speak, but he cut her off. "Our personalities are just too different. You'd like to travel, and I think I'd quite like to stay where I am for now." He said all this with an accompanying smile.

"But you said you liked to travel too, earlier on!" the girl whined.

"I changed my mind," Damon answered simply. Meredith, who was watching the scene with interest, had to hide a smile.

The girl stared at him for a few seconds, and then turned abruptly on her heel and walked away, casting a fierce look at Meredith as she passed.

Meredith turned to Damon with a raised eyebrow. He returned her look steadily.

"Is that piece of fluff seriously the best you could do?" Meredith sighed. "You know, you've really gone downhill since I last saw you."

Damon's lips curled into a smile. "Why are you here, Meredith?" he asked softly, with veiled curiosity.

"I could ask the same thing of you." The dark-haired girl smartly dodged his question. "When I come across the fabled Damon Salvatore in a sleazy bar picking up girls with an IQ lower than this barstool, something must be wrong." She beckoned a barman over to her and ordered a drink. Turning back to Damon, she asked, "So what is wrong, Damon?"

His smile didn't falter. "Nothing. I am perfectly fine, so you can go back to your friends and tell them that poor little Damon is doing pretty well on his own."

Meredith took her drink from the barman and paid, turning once more to face Damon and crossing her long legs as she settled into the stool. "Pretty well? From what I've seen so far, I couldn't even say you were doing okay." She narrowed her eyes. "You miss her, don't you?"

Damon's smile remained immovable. "And who might you be referring to? The, 'piece of fluff', as you called her?"

Meredith shook her head. "Elena," she said softly.  
Damon's lip twitched slightly at the mention of Elena's name, but his smile didn't falter. "I hadn't given her a second thought. I'm sure she's blissfully happy with my little brother. Why should I miss her?"

"That's why you keep picking up the girls, isn't it? It's no coincidence that your last five conquests have all been blonde-haired and blue-eyed." Meredith was watching Damon intently. "You're pretending they're Elena. Just like you did before."

Damon frowned slightly. "Before?"

"When you thought she was dead. You went round picking up girls who looked like her, hoping that one day you'd find someone who had her same spirit. But you never did. And now you're trying again, because you can't have the real Elena. Because you love her still." Meredith finished softly.

Damon didn't reply for a second, his dark eyes flashing as they met hers in a steely gaze. Then he spoke, coolly. "Well, I must say, that's a very romantic interpretation you have, Meredith, but sadly all of it is wrong. What I choose to do, and with whom, is my own business. It has nothing to do with her; my little brother is welcome to her. They can live happily ever after and fly off into the sunset, for all I care."

Meredith looked down, a strange, saddened expression crossing over her face.

"That's why I'm here, Damon. They can't fly off into the sunset and live happily ever after." She raised her eyes to his again. "Not anymore."

Damon felt a wave of intuition wash over him, and he almost knew before she said anything what she would tell him next. But he asked her the question anyway.

"Why on earth not?"

The answer, when it came, still hit him with a force of a cannon ball, even though he knew it had been coming.

"Because Stefan is dead, Damon."

**Oooo, sorry, I usually hate killing characters off in my stories, but this one just seemed to need it. I know I said last chapter that I didn't know where this was going, but now I think I do, and it needs Stefan to be dead for it all to work out. Sorry anyone out there who prefers Stefan to Damon (all 1 of you. Seriously, DAMON IS HOTTER!) Ahem. Anyway. Please read and review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

For a moment, Damon, for the first time in his life, was speechless. Not with shock, because he had known somehow that that was what Meredith would say. He was speechless because he honestly didn't know what he should say in return. Stefan had been the brother he had hated, despised, because his birth had caused their mother to die. Not that he would admit that to anyone. But since Elena had come into their lives, and they had been forced to work together, Damon's loathing of Stefan had lessened. Though he could never say that he liked his brother, he had almost begun to feel something like respect for him. Respect for the fact that he had always carried on, even though he was the weaker and more vulnerable of the vampire brothers.

And now he was dead? Damon didn't even know what he was supposed to feel.

Instead of puzzling it over, he peppered Meredith with questions.

"What happened?"

She took a deep breath. "A couple of weeks ago, two new guys

came to town. You see, Elena and Stefan had moved to this quiet little place in the middle of nowhere, where nobody knew them. Bonnie and I spent more time in that place visiting them than we did in Fell's Church. So we pretty much knew everyone there. And we knew that there were two new guys in town. Nobody really took much notice of them though; they were quiet, and they kept themselves to themselves." She raised her eyes to Damon's. "They were vampire hunters."

"When did you find out?"

"When they killed Stefan," she replied coldly. "We had no idea who they were until they attacked him one night."

"Attacked him? What did they do?"

"He was hunting in the woods. They took him by surprise; he never heard them coming. He tried to fight them off, but—"

"Why didn't he know?"

Meredith blinked. "What?"

"He should have heard them coming. Why didn't he hear them?"

She shook her head slowly. "I don't know…"

But Damon was continuing relentlessly. "He was feeding?"

"Yes."

"Then he was strong. At his strongest. He should have fought them off. Two humans against one vampire would have been hopeless. He should have torn them apart."

Meredith was staring at him. "Damon, you didn't see him. When we found him…" She shuddered. "It was almost impossible to recognise him. Whoever these guys were, there was no way Stefan would have been able to fight them off. I don't even think you could have fought them off together. It looked like they…" She had to stop and take a long drink before she continued. "Let's just say that they didn't kill him straight away." She closed her eyes, hands trembling.

Damon wasn't looking at her. He was looking at the floor, lost in thought. Suddenly his eyes snapped back upwards to her.

"Who's 'we'?"

Meredith's eyes opened. She was getting unsettled by his sudden questions. "What?" she asked again.

"You said 'when we found him'. When who found him?"

Meredith swallowed. "I wasn't the one who found him first, but I was there a few minutes after she was."

A flicker of emotion crossed Damon's face. "Who?" he asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

After a brief pause, Meredith said quietly, "Elena."

Damon's eyes clouded over momentarily. _Elena found him. _

Meredith was watching him, waiting for a reaction. "She'd gone to see where he was, because he was late. I had been staying at her house that night, and I tried to stop her; I told her he'd be fine, but she wouldn't listen. She seemed to know something was wrong. I told her to wait for me, and that I'd go with her after I'd changed my clothes, but by the time I'd got ready, she was already gone. So she got to him before I did."

When he felt able to speak, Damon asked distantly, "What did she do?"

Meredith looked at him in horror as she remembered. "She went crazy. She screamed and screamed—I thought she was going to do something stupid, like kill herself." She shook her head in distress. "The screams, Damon—they were like nothing I ever heard. She fell on the ground and started shaking and crying. But then she just stopped—stopped screaming, stopped crying, stopped everything. She just sat there, staring into space, and she wouldn't say a word. I kept trying to talk to her, tried to make her see that we had to get some help, but she wouldn't even look at me."

"So what did you do?"

"I waited with her while I called Bonnie and Matt and told them what had happened. Matt came with his car, and we… we hid Stefan's body in the woods while Bonnie stayed with Elena. Then we took her back to the house. That was a week ago, and she hasn't said a single thing since. The only thing we could think of doing was to come and find you."

Damon frowned. "And why is that?"

"Because you're the only person that might be able to break her out of it."

Damon didn't reply.

"Please, Damon. We don't know what else to do. And we need to find these guys before they find her. They'll probably realise that we were associated with Stefan and come after us next. We can't fight them on our own." She looked at him with pleading eyes. "If you won't do it for us, do it for Elena."

He drained the last of his drink and stood gracefully, leaning against the bar. "So how far away is this town in the middle of nowhere? Do we need a car, or can I fly?"

Meredith dared to smile thinly. "We'll need a car."

"Then it's a good thing I brought one with me."


	5. Chapter 5

Five minutes later, Meredith was standing by; looking alarmed but not entirely surprised, as Damon stole a bright yellow sports car in the parking lot behind the bar.

"What happened to your car, and why the hell are we stealing somebody else's?" she demanded, her hand on her hip. Looking at her, she reminded Damon uncomfortably of the blonde girl from earlier.

"I sold my car a while ago. Then, two weeks later, you show up telling me that we have leave immediately for some town in the middle of nowhere to rescue a damsel in distress. Consequently, we are stealing somebody else's car," he replied smoothly.

"But why steal this car? We don't even have the keys!"

Damon gave her a disapproving look, and reached into his pocket. He slowly pulled out a bunch of keys on a key ring.

Meredith stared in disbelief. "How did you get those?"

"I took them from the young man who owned them previously on the way out."

"And how did you know this car belonged to him?"

He grinned. "I saw him drive it into the parking lot when I came in tonight."

Meredith blinked. _I don't believe this guy, _she thought, sighing. She was very concerned that the car's owner would turn up at any moment, demanding to know what they thought they were doing. _But what would it matter if anybody did show up, anyway? I'm with a vampire, for Christ's sake. The first sign of any trouble, and Damon would knock the guy's lights out in a second, _she realised.

Damon was looking thoughtfully at the car.

"I shouldn't have decided to take this one."

Meredith sighed. "Good, I'm glad you agree with me."

"I don't like the colour."

She stared at him, and eventually threw her hands up in defeat. He smiled a winning smile, and put the key into the lock. The driver's door opened, and Damon got in with a smirk, leaning over to unlock the door on Meredith's side. She shook her head, getting in.

Suddenly, the back doors to the bar burst open, and three men staggered out, obviously drunk. They didn't seem to be going in any particular direction, until the one in the middle happened to look up at the two figures in the sports car. With a change of expression and an angry shout, the man lurched towards them at a wobbling charge, his two friends following him confusedly.

Watching him quite calmly, Damon said slowly, "I think it's time we left."

Meredith nodded fervently. "Again, I think I agree with you."

"Hang on."

She turned to look at him. "What?"

The car lurched forward and screeched out of the parking lot, narrowly missing hitting the three men who were staring in amazement and bewildered rage as the car disappeared from view.

Meredith gripped the door handle so hard that her knuckles went white, as Damon pushed the car to go faster. He swerved round the bends and turns in the road with ease, his supreme eyesight allowing him to control the erratic movements of the speeding car without any problems.

Once they had driven for at least ten minutes, Damon finally slowed down, assured that they were out of danger. Meredith allowed herself to relax, and sat back in her seat. She glanced over at Damon, and saw that the usual wry smile was back on his face again.

"I'm sorry if I scared you." He didn't sound at all sorry.

"No, you didn't scare me at all," Meredith retorted sarcastically. "I was just wondering whether I'd told people what I wanted written on my tombstone or not."

His smile widened. Then it faded, and a thoughtful look came over his face. Eyes fixed on the road; he asked suddenly, "How did you know where to find me?"

Thinking of how much she hated the way he jumped from one subject to another, she asked for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, "What?"

"After Stefan… you said you came looking for me. How did you know where to start?"

Meredith looked down, and played with the zipper on her jacket. "Before he died, Stefan told us that he'd been following you. Trying to keep track of where you were going, making sure you were okay, that sort of thing. He'd said that the last place he saw you was in this area, so I came out here first. I didn't have an address, so I decided to start trying in all the bars around here." She looked back up at him, an eyebrow raised. "It didn't take me long to find you."

"So how long have you been here?"  
"About a week."

He frowned. "About a week, and I haven't noticed you before now?"

She shrugged. "I can keep out of sight too, you know. It's not just creatures of the night that know how to stay unnoticed," she retorted.

He smiled in return. "I'm not talking about staying out of sight. I'm a vampire, remember? We have a superb sense of smell."

She looked at him. "Are you saying I smell?" she asked him abruptly.

He laughed. "Everybody has their own scent. And I never forget a scent." He looked deadly serious. Meredith felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she watched that charming but dangerous countenance of his.

They didn't talk very much after that, except for when Meredith had to give Damon directions as to where to drive. Eventually, they turned onto a narrow, dusty road leading to what looked like a couple of small houses rather than a town.

Meredith drew in her breath. "We're here."

**Author's Note: Hello people! Sorry I haven't updated in ages, but I've just moved to Uni, and things have been a bit hectic. But I haven't given up on this, so please keep reading! Also, I've decided to reward you with two chapters instead of one, and the eighth chapter will soon follow. Enjoy!**


	6. Chapter 6

Damon glanced over at Meredith. "This is it?"

She nodded. "This is it."

Damon looked scornful. "Not exactly what I'd call a town."

"Elena and Stefan called it home." Meredith said quietly. She got no reply from Damon. Sighing, she pointed to a house that was set back a little further away from the road than the others. "It's that house there."

Damon looked to where she was pointing. The house was small, with only one floor, and perhaps four rooms. It looked in a state of disrepair- the paint on the outside of the house was chipped, the tiny garden was overgrown and some of the tiles had fallen off the roof. As they pulled over onto the side of the road, Damon could see another car already parked in front of the house.

He inclined his head towards it. "More visitors?"

"Matt and Bonnie." Meredith explained.

"What about the other one? The teacher?"

"Alaric? He's travelling. He's not been back in months. I doubt if he even knows about Stefan."

"You didn't tell him?"

"It's none of his business," Meredith replied, a little too hotly. Damon raised an eyebrow, but didn't pursue it.

He stopped the car and got out, striding towards the house without bothering to open Meredith's door or wait for her. She sighed once more and got out, sprinting to catch up with him.

Before he could reach the front door, she grabbed his arm and pulled him round to face her.

"Damon, wait."

His eyes flashed with annoyance as he looked down at her hand on his arm, and then back up to her eyes. "What?"

She hesitated. "Before you go in there, you should prepare yourself."

The corner of his lip turned upwards in a smirk. "Why, is Bonnie still interested in me?"

Meredith would have laughed if the situation hadn't been so serious. She met his eyes. "I mean, prepare yourself to see Elena. She's not like she used to be. She's a completely different person."

"Isn't that why you brought me here in the first place?"  
"I know, but I just don't want you to be shocked when you see her. She looks so empty now. It's like her light has gone out," Meredith ended softly.

Damon looked at the ground, and then broke away and headed for the door again. Meredith took a deep breath and followed him.

Damon knocked sharply, and stood back, waiting for the door to open. Meredith prayed that if Bonnie answered, she wouldn't scream at the sight of Damon. She was known to be a little excitable, and the last thing they needed was to have to deal with Bonnie as well as Elena.

It was Bonnie who opened the door, but her reaction was completely the opposite of Meredith's expectations. Instead of screaming, Bonnie just stood staring at Damon, who returned her stare with a slightly bored expression on his face.

Finally, the red-head spoke. "You're back."

Damon smiled. "So it seems."

Bonnie looked away from him and to Meredith. "You did it," she whispered. "You found him. I knew you would!" She threw her arms around Meredith, squeezing her tightly. Meredith gasped.

"Okay, okay, yes, I found him. Now can you let me go?"

Bonnie released her and stepped back. "I'm sorry. It's just—Elena's getting worse by the day, and now Damon's here—"

"Where is she?" Damon's sharp voice cut through Bonnie's.

Thrown for a moment, Bonnie hesitated before replying, "She's in the lounge, with Matt. I didn't want to leave her alone, I know it's silly, because she's not talking, but—"

"Take me to her."

Bonnie turned to Meredith. "He's still the same old Damon, isn't he?"

"_Now_, Bonnie," Meredith said gently. She could sense that Damon was getting more impatient by the minute. Bonnie floundered, and then led the way down the hall.

As they walked, Damon kept his eyes fixed on the floor, but when they rounded the corner into the lounge, he allowed his eyes to travel upwards and take in the scene before him.

The lounge itself was simple, like the rest of the house. There was a sofa in the middle of the room, and a worn armchair on one side. A small, possibly black and white TV sat in front of the sofa. There were no paintings on the walls, and all the décor was in neutral colours; creams and beiges. Matt was sat in the armchair, his eyes fixed into the distance, face etched with worry. Damon could tell he'd not been eating, and where there had once been a fit, athletic boy, there was now a painfully thin, gaunt one in his place. He kept repeatedly running his fingers through his hair and biting his lip, as he stared over to the sofa.

Where Elena was sitting.

Damon could only see the back of her head, as the sofa was facing away from him, but still, the sight of her sent a familiar stabbing feeling through his heart. He remembered what Meredith had said; '_it's like her light has gone out,' _and he didn't have to look at Elena's face to know it was true. He could _sense _the change in her, like a candle that had suddenly been blown out in the wind.

He realised that Meredith and Bonnie were watching him.

Turning, he looked at them and waited for them to speak.

"You remember Matt, Damon?" Bonnie asked nervously.

Glancing at Meredith, he replied, "I never forget a scent."

Matt's head snapped round to face Damon, and shock registered on his expression. Damon smiled dangerously, and Matt stood shakily.

"I guess I should be grateful that you're back, if you can help Elena," he said, and Meredith realised he was trying to sound brave. "But you try anything funny while you're here, and I swear you'll be sorry."

Damon looked at him with interest. "Oh really? And what could you do to me that would make me feel sorry?"

Matt swallowed. "Well, I could never take you in a fight or anything like that. But if something happens to the girls and I find out you're to blame, you're gonna wake up with a stake in your heart." He pushed past Meredith and Damon. As he went past Bonnie on his way out, Matt said quietly, "Let me know if anything changes. I'll just be outside." Bonnie nodded, and Matt left the room.

Meredith looked back to the sofa, and then to Damon again.

"You should talk to her," she said softly.

Damon didn't reply, his eyes fixed on Elena's head. Slowly he moved forwards, around to the front of the sofa and knelt down, so that he was at eye-level with her. Finally he allowed himself to look at her.

The way she looked almost frightened him. Her skin, normally glowing, was dreadfully pale and translucent. Her hands trembled continuously, and her hair hung limply around her shoulders with no trace of the bounce it normally contained. But it was her eyes that affected him most. They were sunken and dark, instead of the bright, shining lights they used to be. Looking into them, Damon saw nothing that indicated to him that she could see him, or indeed anything in the room. It was like looking into the eyes of a porcelain doll, fake and unseeing.

Reaching out a hand, his fingers lightly brushed her cheek, and he realised that she was so cold that he could feel it, meaning that she, Elena, a living person, was colder than he, Damon, an undead vampire with no blood running through his veins. She did not react to his touch. Shocked for one of the few times in his life, he spoke very quietly.

"Hello, Elena."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Hey everybody, I know I said this chapter would be up quickly but I finished writing it and it went all sucky, so I had to re-write it, and I'm still not happy, but here it is. If I keep going over it I'll never post it. So sorry if it's worse than the other chapters, but hopefully I'll do better next time! Oh, and this is an extra-long chapter, I know, but I couldn't really bring myself to break off in the middle of it.**

There was reply, and again no indication that she had heard him.

Damon sensed Meredith and Bonnie's eyes on him, and looked up. _What are they expecting, that she'll snap out of whatever's wrong with her just because I'm here? _He frowned. If he was going to help Elena, he needed to do it alone.

He stood. "Leave us," he said quietly.

Bonnie started towards him, and then stopped. "But what if she—"

"I'll call you."

Bonnie still looked worried. "Matt said he didn't want us to leave you alone with her," she confessed.

Damon's temper was fraying badly. "What does he think I'm going to do? You asked me to come and help. That's what I'm doing. Helping." Bonnie opened her mouth again, but Damon interrupted her. "Helping _Elena_," he clarified sharply.

Bonnie still looked anxious, but she nodded and left the room. Meredith looked at Damon for a moment longer, and then turned and followed the red-head.

Damon closed the door behind them, and listened intently. Their voices faded as they walked down the hall and away from the room. Satisfied, he returned to the sofa.

Elena still stared straight ahead, her eyes unseeing and blank.

Damon knelt in front of her again and fixed his eyes on hers, their faces inches apart.

"You listen to me," he said suddenly. "I don't take kindly to being followed for two weeks solid by a girl who, quite frankly, I should have drained by now. I also do not take kindly to being dragged away from a pretty nice town where I had everything perfectly worked out to come and solve somebody else's problems. It grates on my nerves." He paused, watching her. "So you'd better make this worth my while. You hear me? If I've come all this way to watch you staring straight through me like I'm not even here, then I may have to drain the girl after all, as well as the rest of your friends. Call it payment." His face was deadly serious, and he was concentrating on what he was saying so much that he almost didn't see Elena's head turn slowly towards him.

Her eyes, although still empty, showed at least a little recognition, as she said shakily, "Damon?"  
If his heart was beating, it would have stopped at that precise moment.

"Elena?" he said, a little hesitantly.

Then life flooded back into her eyes, and Damon could suddenly see understanding and sadness reflected in them. Gradually, they began to fill with tears, and the tremor in her hands gave way to full shaking.

Softly, she whispered, "Kill me."

Shocked for the second time that night, and too many times in the past two nights, Damon took a moment before he could answer.

"What?" he asked, appalled.

"Kill me." She suddenly threw herself off the sofa and landed on the floor beside him, grabbing his arms desperately. "Please, please, kill me…" She was clawing at him and at herself, pulling at her clothes and scratching her skin.

"Elena…" He stared at her. She was sobbing hysterically now, holding her head in her hands and rocking backwards and forwards. Seeing her like that made him recover and he said sharply, "Elena! Stop it!"

She didn't hear him, and continued to dig her nails into her arms and make huge scratches over and over. Damon reached out to take her by the arms, and she tried to push him away. Brushing them away as though they were feathers, he got a tight grip on her, and she struggled against him.

"Elena! Stop that now and listen!"

She screamed.

"You little fool! They'll think I'm trying to hurt you!" His eyes flashing, his ears strained to hear any sounds of the others coming, but he heard nothing, so turned his attention back to Elena.

"Elena, stop this _now_."

She looked at him, her breath short and fast. "Why won't you kill me?" she asked him bitterly, the tears still running down her face.

He stared at her. "Is that what you want?" he demanded.

"Yes," she pleaded, sobbing.

"Is it? Is that really what you want, Elena?"

She looked at him a moment, her eyes clouded with tears. "It's better than this," she said painfully.

"Then you're even more selfish than I thought." His voice was cold.

Elena looked shocked. "What?" she whispered.

"You heard me. You're selfish, Elena. Don't you think your friends might have something to say about your little idea? Don't you think that Stefan's death might have affected them too? How would they feel if their best friend died as well? Could you leave them behind to cope with that?" He was firing the questions at her intensely.

She shook her head, dazed. "I don't care… I just… I can't feel like this anymore, Damon. It hurts... it hurts more than you can ever know." The tears spilled over and streamed down her face.

Damon regarded her silently. When he spoke, it was quietly, but not without the bitterness that had been in his voice before.

"I _do _know, Elena. Don't you remember? Or have you forgotten Katherine already?"

Elena stared at the floor and didn't answer him.

"Pain is what life is about. Without pain, we'd be nothing. We'd be empty, unfeeling and cold. It's hard, but you have to live through it. It's the only way to heal it." He searched her face, looking for recognition. _God, now I'm giving speeches about life? How can I talk? I'm dead, _he thought wryly to himself. But he waited for Elena to speak.

Slowly, she raised her head. "Will you help me?" she asked very softly.

He sighed. "Isn't that why Meredith brought me here?"

She closed her eyes briefly. "I can't talk to them. Not yet. It's too soon. Will you… will you tell them that I'm better?" She raised her eyes to his. "I mean…" she trailed off.

He nodded slowly. "I know what you mean. And yes—I'll tell them. And I'll keep them out of your hair until you need them."

"Don't be too hard on them, Damon. They only want to help. I know that, I just—it's too much right now."

Damon nodded once more. "Wait here." He stood, but Elena grabbed his arm fearfully.

"Where are you going?" Her voice was panicky.

He looked down at her. "Outside, to tell your friends."

Her breathing became faster again. "Don't leave me here, please, Damon, don't leave. I don't want to be on my own anymore."

"I'm not going anywhere," he assured her. "I'll tell your friends and come back in here, I promise."

She hesitated, and then released his arm, sinking back to the floor.

Damon sighed once more, and walked to the door. Suddenly, his concentration returned to him, his ears picked up the sound of breathing coming from the other side of the door. Smiling to himself, he turned the handle with all the quietness he had mastered after years of being a vampire, and pushed the door open quickly.

There was a yelp from the other side, and as the door swung open, it revealed a dishevelled Bonnie on the floor, rubbing her arms. Matt and Meredith were stood a little further behind her. Bonnie glared at him.  
"That hurt!"

"Then you shouldn't eavesdrop," Damon replied pleasantly.

Bonnie frowned. "I just wanted to know if Elena was okay."

"She's better."

Bonnie's face brightened. "Really?" She pulled herself up and started towards the door. "I'll go in and see her. I bet she'd love a nice—"

"Bonnie." Damon stood in her way. "I said she was better. I didn't say she's completely herself again."

Bonnie looked worried. "But she's speaking again? She's not just staring into space anymore?"

Damon made himself count to three before he answered. The energetic, anxious redhead frustrated him sometimes. "Yes, she's speaking. But she needs time and space. She specifically told me that she didn't feel ready to talk to any of you at the moment."

Matt moved forward, an angry expression on his face. "But I bet she's ready to talk to you, isn't she, Damon?"

"Matt," Meredith said warily. But he didn't listen, walking up to Damon.

"Just what exactly happened in there?"

Damon's temper was reaching boiling point. "Precisely what I told you. I talked to her, she talked to me, and she said that she doesn't want to talk to you yet. Nothing more."

Matt moved closer, speaking in aggressive tones. "Listen, I've just about had enough of this. Just because you're a vampire, and you could probably beat the hell out of me in a fight, you don't scare me. Either you let me in there right now to see Elena, or I'll—" He broke off suddenly, staring behind Damon.

Damon turned around to see Elena standing shakily behind him.

Meredith shot a warning glance at Matt, sending him mental messages to shut the hell up, but she needn't have bothered. Matt was not saying another word. Bonnie, too, was staring in wonder. Finally, though, she spoke.

"Elena…you're back," she said softly.

Elena looked around the room, her face unsure and afraid. She spoke quietly, her voice broken.

"I'm sorry. Please try and understand." She looked to Damon for guidance, but he was watching silently. Looking back at her friends, she continued. "I just—I can't deal with this at the moment." Her eyes darting around her fearfully, she turned and ran back into the lounge, slamming the door.

Damon turned angrily back to the others. "Satisfied now?" The venom in his voice was mainly directed at Matt, who was staring at the shut door in silence.

Meredith drew in a breath. "I think we all need to go and calm down somewhere. Separately." Before Bonnie could say anything, Meredith added, "Away from Elena."

Matt's eyes shifted to Damon. "Apart from him. He'll go back in, won't you?"

Damon was using supernatural efforts to stop himself from hitting the boy, for Elena's sake alone, but he was almost being pushed to his limit. With one stride, he covered the distance between them and looked Matt in the eyes.

"Earlier, you said you should be grateful that I'm here if I help Elena. Well I've done that. And you don't seem very grateful." He narrowed his eyes. "I'd correct that, if I were you."

Matt swallowed. "I told you, you don't scare me."

"Then why are you trembling like a leaf?"

"Because I'm angry! I'm angry at the way you think you can just walk in here and take over everything!" Matt was breathing heavily. "Well you can't! Elena is our friend, not yours. She hated you! You were always trying to split her and Stefan up and take her away from us. He was your own brother and you don't even care that he's dead! Why would Elena want anything to do with someone as messed up as you?"

Damon didn't stop to think about how to resolve the situation and calm the boy down. He simply punched him.

It was good, strong punch, and it caught Matt on the side of his face, throwing him back against the wall. Bonnie squealed, and hurried over to him to see whether he was hurt. Matt was pulling himself up slowly, anger and humiliation on his face, but Damon merely turned round and walked silently back into the lounge, to Elena.

Meredith watched him go and sighed. "Well, that went well."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Meredith sank into a chair wearily. She and Bonnie had taken Matt into the kitchen, where Bonnie was now dabbing at the already nasty looking bruise on his cheek with an ice cold compress. Matt was staring straight ahead of him, too angry to speak.

_I'm sure this is exactly what Elena needs- all of us to start fighting with each other, _Meredith thought to herself sarcastically.

"I'm sorry if this hurts, but we need to get it seen to. It's quite a bad bruise," Bonnie said, regarding Matt in concentration.

Still staring into space, Matt replied, "I should have staked him."

Meredith sighed. "Matt, stop."

He looked at her incredulously. "You're telling me to stop? He hit ME, in case you've forgotten!"

"You shouldn't have provoked him," she replied quietly.

"Why the hell not? Elena doesn't need anymore crap from the evil undead! I don't know why you even bothered to bring him back anyway. He'll do nothing but cause trouble for Elena." He glared at Meredith angrily. Bonnie gulped, and kept her eyes fixed to the floor, still dabbing at Matt's cheek.

Meredith retuned his glare steadily. "I brought him here because he's the closest thing Elena has to Stefan, right now. She does need him, more than we can know. And he has helped her already—she's talking again, isn't she?"

Matt was still angry. "But not to us. Only to him—that thing in there! She'd rather talk to that than us, her oldest friends?"

"Give her time, Matt. She'll talk to us when she's ready. I can't imagine what she's going through, right now, but if we don't let her get over it in her own way then we're not being her friends. We just have to let her know that we're here for her when she needs us."

Bonnie swallowed. "She's right, Matt." She was still patting Matt's cheek with the compress. "I know that's what I would want. Wouldn't you? I mean, she's—"

Matt pushed her hand away suddenly, and leapt up from the table, knocking it over in the process. "What I want is to talk to Elena. But since she'd prefer talking to a vampire, I guess I'm of no use to anyone. So I think I'll just stay out of your way." He stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind him.

Bonnie winced, and then winced again as they heard the front door slam as well. She glanced over at Meredith, who sighed once more.

"Let him be. He'll calm down eventually."

Bonnie looked unsure. "I hope so." She looked towards the kitchen door. "What about Damon?"

Meredith looked over to the door too. "I have no idea. Just—just let him take care of this his own way. I don't think he'd do anything to put Elena in danger, and Matt not being here will probably help."

Bonnie looked at the floor.

"He was right, you know. Matt, I mean. He's of no use to Elena in this mood. Right now, we can't even have him and Damon in the same room together without Matt getting a black eye. It's better for Elena's sake if he just stays away until he calms down."

Bonnie nodded. "I know." She too sighed. "I just hope he does."

Damon closed the door behind him and turned. Elena had walked slowly back over to the couch and was sat on it, staring into space.

"If you're thinking of going back to sitting in silence again, I'm leaving." Damon moved round to the front of the couch, and Elena glanced up at him.

"No, I'm… I'm not," she replied wearily. She looked confused. "What… what did you do to Matt?"

"What?"

"Matt…I heard shouting, and a crash."

Damon frowned. "Oh, the boy. I taught him a lesson." His face was calm. "Nothing for you to worry about."

Elena shook her head slowly. "You shouldn't… he's just trying to help."

"Well he's not succeeding," Damon answered smoothly. "At least he'll keep out of the way now. He was beginning to make me angry." He glanced briefly at his nails. "Plus I'm getting hungry."

Elena didn't react, and Damon looked down at her. Although her skin was still pale, she at least looked a little more awake. There was more life in her eyes, and her breathing was regular if quick.

She caught him watching her and closed her eyes. "Aren't you going to ask me what happened?" She opened her eyes to find him still looking at her. "Aren't you going to ask how I found him? How I knew where he was?"

"I wasn't planning on it, no." Damon sat in the chair opposite the sofa nonchalantly. "Tell me if you want. It makes no difference to me."

She stared at him. "He was your brother," she whispered softly.

He shrugged. "And what happened to him is in the past. There's no point in dwelling on something that's already happened. Don't you think the more important thing right now is to find these vampire hunters before they find us?"

Elena blinked against more tears. "Do you expect me to just forget? Pretend like nothing's happened?" She looked back up at him. "I loved him, Damon."

He sighed. "Yes. So you should avenge him. The sooner we find these people, the sooner you can do that."

Elena's voice was cold as she replied. "And what about grieving for him? Can I not do that?"

He slipped off the chair gracefully and kneeled on the floor in front of her, staring intently into her eyes.

"There's time for grief afterwards."

Slowly, she raised her eyes to his. He was so intent on getting her to understand him that he was actually surprised when she kissed him.

She did it so quickly he almost reacted without thinking, but then he firmly pushed her back from him, a puzzled look on his face.

"Elena, what are you doing?" he asked her gently.

She was about to answer, but then leaned towards him again.

Once more, he held her away from him. "This isn't what you want."

The tears in her eyes threatened to spill over. "Yes, it is."

"No." He looked directly at her. "You want Stefan, and I'm the closest thing."

She stared at him a moment longer before the tears fell, and she was crying again.

He was at a loss for what to do for a moment, until she fell forward against his chest, weeping copiously, her hands grabbing his arms. Slowly, he wrapped his own arms around her and held her.

"I'm sorry, Damon, I didn't mean—" She broke off, and then tried again. "Will you just stay here, just tonight? Will you just hold me?" She looked up at him. "Please? I don't want to be alone." Her tone was almost pleading.

He paused, and then nodded silently. She rested her head back on his chest and he held her.

**Author's Note: Okay, I'm gonna apologise for a couple of things. Firstly, I'm sorry if nothing much seems to be happening right now. I promise things start to happen next chapter. Also, I'm sorry if Damon seems a little out of character, I'll try and rectify it. He's not turning soppy, honestly. And thirdly, sorry if this seems like a Damon/Elena fic. I'm not planning it to turn out that way. Okay, apologies over, now for thank you's. Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed so far, and to those of you who've read and not reviewed- please re-think! I can't improve unless you help me out. Secondly, a special thank you to the wonderful Amylu, who may be anonymous to most people but is actually the most important of my reviewers (no offence to anyone else). Really, I should pay people to write comments like the one she did. So thanks guys!**

**I'll shut up now, I promise.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Elena opened her eyes slowly and blinked to regain focus. She looked around, and realised that she was lying on the sofa, a blanket over her. _I must have fallen asleep, _she realised, as she remembered the events of the previous night. _Damon must have covered me with the blanket_.

Suddenly, she sat up with a jolt.

_Damon._

Where was he? She scanned the room, breathing heavily. He wasn't there. _He can't have gone, _she thought, panicking. _He said he wouldn't leave._

Just as she was about to venture outside to find him the door opened and closed quietly. As Elena's eyes flicked over to see who was there, Damon entered, and stopped when he saw she was awake.

She looked at him. "Where were you?"

He regarded her curiously. "I had to hunt."

Her breathing was still quick. "You said you wouldn't leave!"

Damon frowned. "Would you rather I quenched my thirst with the blood of your friends?"

She didn't answer.

"I thought not," he replied smoothly, and moved to sit down on the chair.

Elena was looking away from him. "Damon," she said suddenly.

He said nothing, but raised his eyebrows.

"How do we find these people?" She looked back to him. "I want to find them. Now." There was a fierce urgency in her voice as she spoke.

A corner of his upper lip turned upwards in a smirk. "So, you've come round to my way of thinking at last. I'm glad."

"I'm serious, Damon. I want to know who these people are and I want to find them. Not soon, not tomorrow, now."

He met her eyes for a moment. "And your friends? Where do they fit in to this? Are they coming along for the ride, or shall I just persuade the ladies to leave as well as that useless boy?"

Elena shook her head. "I don't want them to leave. I want them here, I just… I don't know what to say to them. They'll have questions, and I can't answer them at the minute, I just can't."

Damon shrugged. "Easily solved. We gag them and stick them in the boot of the car."

She frowned. "Damon, stop it."

He smiled in response. "It'd make things a lot easier."

She chose not to answer him. "So where do we start?"  
He lounged back in the chair. "We don't. Not yet."

Elena stared at him. "What?"

"I said we don't. We have absolutely no information about these people. We can't track them down until we know something about them. And for us to know something about them, we have to wait until they make another move."

Elena had a look of disbelief and shock on her face. "Damon, the next move they make could be killing one of us!"

His face had its usual calmness about it. "We can't do anything yet."

"But—"

"Do you know their names?" he interrupted her suddenly.

She hesitated. "No."

"Were they there when you found Stefan?"

"No."

"Could you give me a detailed description of what they look like? Where they moved from?"

"No, but…."

"Then we wait."

She was looking intensely at him. "But I'm tired of waiting, Damon. I want these people—these _monsters_—to pay. And I can't just sit around, waiting until they kill me or my friends off one by one. I have to do something, or I'll—I'll go crazy."

He wasn't listening to her. "You say they weren't there when you found Stefan?"

She paused, a little thrown by his sudden change of topic. "No."

"And nobody got to him before you? Not Bonnie or Meredith?"

"No. Damon, why are you—"

"Nothing." He cut her off sharply, but his face was thoughtful, and Elena could tell he had got an idea about something, but she didn't pursue it. She knew what Damon was like when he didn't want to elaborate on something. She knew she'd never get it out of him unless he decided to tell her.

He got up from the chair. "I'm going to have a little talk with these friends of yours. Make sure they understand their place in all this." Elena was about to say something, but once more he cut her off. "Stay here, and _wait. _You want these guys, I'll get them for you, but if you don't do as I say you're going to get yourself into trouble. I'll be back soon." With that, he turned and left the room before Elena could speak again.

He found Meredith and Bonnie in the kitchen, sitting and talking over two cups of steaming tea. They broke off when Damon entered the room, and looked up at him.

"How is she?" Bonnie asked quietly.

He didn't look at her, but kept his eyes fixed on Meredith, who was staring into her mug. "Fine," he answered shortly. "I need to talk to you," he added, not bothering to mention a name. He guessed that Bonnie would realise he meant Meredith by the way he was waiting for her to look at him.

She did so, surprised. "Me? What for?"

"It doesn't matter. I just need to talk to you, now. Alone," he added, hoping that Bonnie would get the message.

Bonnie glanced up at him. "Do you want me to go outside then?"

He finally looked back at her. "No. We will. You stay here and watch Elena. And whatever you do, don't leave her in the house on her own. If you need me, I'm at the front of the house." He turned back to Meredith. "Are you coming?" he asked coldly.

She got up, a bit puzzled by his tone. "I guess so."

"Good." He turned and strode out of the kitchen, towards the front door. Meredith glanced at Bonnie, who shrugged, and then followed Damon outside.

He was waiting with a grim look on his face.

"Damon, what's—"

"How did you know?"

She sighed. "_What?_" She hated the way he asked questions so suddenly and expected people to know the answers straight away.

"When you told me about the two new people who had come to town, you said you only knew they were vampire hunters after they attacked Stefan. But how did you know they were the ones that had attacked him?"

She still looked confused. "Damon, what are you talking about?"

"Both you and Elena said that Elena got to Stefan first. Nobody found him before her. And she also said that the two men were not there when she found him. So nobody could have seen who actually attacked him except for Stefan himself. And since Stefan is dead, how did you know it was those men that had attacked him?" Damon's eyes were almost as dark as ebony as he waited for her answer.

She looked worried suddenly, and her voice was quiet as she answered him. "I don't know… I just… I guessed it was them; I mean, they seemed like the type who would do something like that."

"But you told me they never caused any trouble and kept themselves to themselves." Damon's eyes were shining now as he continued relentlessly. "Doesn't seem like the type of people who would actively go looking for a vampire to kill, now, does it?"

"Well, it had to be them; there was no one else who would have done it."

In one step, Damon moved forward and grabbed the girl by the shoulders, causing her to give a little cry of fear.

"How about you start telling me the truth, Meredith? What do you know about what happened to Stefan? And what do you know about these people?" He shook her as he spoke, and she cried out again.

"Nothing, I swear, I haven't got any idea who they are."

Damon lost his patience, and his face shifted. His teeth grew longer, and he felt a snarl rise in his throat. He shook the girl once more.

"You have a single heartbeat to tell me what's going on here, before I rip your heart _out._"

She looked at him in fear, and nodded her head quickly. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you, just let me go."  
His face slipped back to normal, but he kept his grip on her arms. Meredith swallowed, and spoke quietly.

"I swear, I had no idea what these guys were going to do. If I had, I would have warned Stefan and Elena." She glanced up at Damon. "But I did know them."

She paused, and he snarled again.

"Go on," he said dangerously.

"Do you remember I told you that Alaric had gone travelling?" He nodded once, impatiently. "Well, before he left he introduced me to two old colleagues of his, back from when he was doing his research on vampires. They were Russian, and had come to America to find Alaric, because they thought he was still interested in all that stuff. But whereas Alaric just wanted to get information on vampires, these guys wanted to wipe them out. Kill every vampire they could find. I told Alaric he'd be stupid to keep in contact with them, but he said that they would have gained much more information about vampires and parapsychology than he could have done in a lifetime. He was really interested in what they had to say. I tried to stop him, but he went back with them to Russia to work on some more research." She paused and looked at Damon, who still had a tight hold on her arms and was waiting for her to go on. "I haven't seen Alaric since, but when these two guys showed up here a few weeks ago, I remembered them straight away. I didn't think they knew anything about Stefan being a vampire, so I didn't take much notice of them. If I'd have known, I swear, I would have said something, Damon, I promise." She looked distressed. "And then… as soon as we found Stefan, I knew it was them. But I thought if I said anything, Elena would blame it on me, for not saying anything before. So I kept it to myself. But that's all I know, honestly, Damon."

He was looking so angry now that Meredith was almost too scared to look at him.

"You stupid girl!" he growled. He was about to speak again, but he was cut off by a loud crash from inside the house, and a scream that he knew, instinctively, was Elena's.

**Author's Note: Okay, I tried to make that all suspenseful and twisty, but something's nagging in the back of my mind that there's a problem here somewhere. So if I've missed anything, or something doesn't make sense, could you let me know? And then I'll try and fix it. Sometimes I get ideas really quickly and then don't think them through properly, so I'd be grateful for any help you guys can give. Thanks! Oh, and as always, please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: I have the loveliest reviewers, really, I do. The only thing is you make me feel guilty for not updating for so long! I'm really sorry there hasn't been a new chapter in a while, but I wanted this one especially not to suck, and it kept on sucking, so I had to rewrite and rewrite and rewrite again, and then came Christmas, and then New Year…. I just put it away for a while, I guess. But I didn't forget about it, and I've got this chapter up finally, so I hope you all enjoy! Oh, and I changed the summary to make it actually summarise the story this time. That's the problem with writing things as you go along; you don't know how to summarise it cos you don't know what the story's about. But now I think I know where I'm going with this, so here goes….**

Chapter 10

Damon released Meredith immediately and was inside the house and at the living room door within two seconds. He paused before entering, listening hard to determine whether anyone other than Elena was in the room. But he heard nothing, and was about to turn the door handle when Meredith came up behind him.

"Damon—"

"_Not _now," he snapped. She nodded and looked down at her feet silently.

Slowly, Damon turned the door handle and entered the room.

It was exactly as he had left it, except for a large hole in the window where something had obviously either been thrown into the room or thrown out of it. Glass was scattered at the foot of the window, and a cold breeze was blowing the curtains. Damon thought the room was empty for a second, until he sensed somebody behind the sofa in the middle of the room. He edged forward cautiously, and Elena stared up at him from where she was crouched on the floor, her arms around her knees.

When she realised it was him, she leapt to her feet and fell against him, sobbing.

"Oh god, Damon, it was them! They were here, they were… they said such horrible things…"

He held her away from him. "They were here?"

"The ones that killed Stefan! They told me, they told me they killed him…"

Damon shot a glance at Meredith, who had just entered the room, and she bowed her head in shame. He turned his attention back to Elena.

"They said they were going to kill me too, and everyone else here… oh god, what do we do? They're going to find us again, even if we leave, and they're going to kill us…"

"Elena!" Damon frowned. "They're not going to kill us. They said it to frighten you."

Elena shook her head. "They meant it, they put a knife against my throat, Damon; they said they could do it any time they wanted and I'd never be able to stop them…"

Damon wasn't listening to her. "Did they say anything else? How did they get into the room?" He grabbed her arms tightly. "How did they get out?"

Elena shook her head from side to side, crying incessantly, and Meredith shifted slightly.

"Damon, lay off a bit. You can see she's upset," Meredith ventured quietly.

He threw an angry look at her, but remained silent and released Elena's arms, pacing irritably up and down the room.

Elena sank onto the sofa, her trembling hands covering her face. Meredith hesitated for a moment, and then kneeled in front of her, slowly reaching out a hand to her.

"Elena?" she asked gently. "Elena, it's me, Meredith. You can tell me what happened, its ok; they're gone now."

Damon was about to speak, but then the door opened and Bonnie entered haltingly. She looked anxious, as usual, but even more so as she glanced at the three of them.

"Now, don't get angry with me—"

Damon glared at her with such ferocity that she had to hold back a squeal. "Don't get angry? I told you not to leave her on her own!" he snarled. Meredith drew in her breath, and Elena watched silently.

"I know, I know," she whimpered. "I was going to go in there, I was, and stay with her, but then something happened and I had to go outside…" She stepped away from the door, and Matt entered slowly.

Damon rose silently, his venomous eyes fixed on the boy.

Matt swallowed. "I haven't come to cause any more trouble. You were right to hit me, I was being an idiot. I won't stop you from helping us again, I mean it." He put a hand against his cheek, where a nasty purple bruise was spreading. "I learnt that lesson."

"Then why have you come?" Damon asked icily.

"I want to help you. Properly, this time. Whatever I can do, I'll do it. If I stay away, I'll go crazy wondering what's happening to you all, and wondering if I could have done anything to help. So I just wanted to say that I'm here, and I won't get in your way again." He breathed in deeply, obviously nervous of Damon.

The vampire regarded him for a moment, and then his eyes slid away from him back to the bit of space he had been staring into before Matt entered the room. "Good. I'm glad to hear it."

Matt waited a moment longer, but Damon was sitting in a stony silence and would not say anything more. Matt nodded, and left the room quietly. Bonnie fidgeted for a moment, and then followed him.

Meredith glanced up at Damon. "I don't want to make you angrier—"

"I'm not angry."

Meredith raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue. "Well, I just think maybe I should talk to Elena for a bit. It might be a bit easier for her to talk to me, that's all." She glanced at Elena. "If that's what you want, of course. I mean, I don't want to make you feel worse…"

Damon's eyes stayed rooted to the where they had been fixed before. "Don't you think you've done enough already?" he asked coldly.

Meredith looked away, but Elena spoke quietly.

"Please, Damon… it's alright. I need to talk to them at some point."

Damon's eyes met hers, and he looked at her for a moment before nodding and silently leaving the room.

**Author's note: Well, I believe it's still sucky, but hey. It'll have to do; even I'm getting fed up of me not updating! Please, PLEASE review, every single one helps, even if you just put "Dude… that's just, like, STOOPID." But please don't put that. Heck, put what you like.  
**

**I'll stop rambling now. See you next chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's note: ****Wow…. It's such a long time since this has been updated! This chapter has actually been sitting in my documents folder for almost two years now. If any of my faithful reviewers are still with me, I salute you and hand you all cookies :D I think this chapter might be a bit short but I wanted to get it out of the way because, as you might have guessed, it's been hard to keep the story going, and my inspiration has been at an all time low. Oh well, hope you at least don't hate this chapter and I'll try and be more frequent with the following chapters! Thanks if you read and/or comment!**

**Chapter Eleven**

Damon paced the hallway outside the living room, frustrated. He wanted to throw open the door and barge back into the room to tell Meredith exactly what he thought of her, but he didn't. Actually, what he wanted was to get the hell out of this house and go back to the pretty good life he'd been living before a certain dark-haired, annoying little human had dragged him into this big mess.

But he didn't.

Bonnie had come out of the kitchen a few times to apologise again, but one snarl from Damon had sent her scuttling back to Matt, and she hadn't bothered him since. He was glad. The redhead was almost as unbearably irritating as the boy. And right now, he felt that if someone pushed him over the edge he was teetering on at the moment, he would snap and drain them dry. He was quite hungry, come to think of it. But it would wait. He wasn't going anywhere until he got answers from Elena.

As if on cue, the door to the living room opened and Meredith walked into the hallway, closing the door behind her slowly. Damon stopped pacing and stood watching her, his arms folded.

"Well?" he demanded.

Meredith raised a finger to her lips. "She's asleep."

"What did she say?" He didn't lower his voice at all.

Meredith sighed. "She was trying to get some sleep and only knew someone was in the room when she heard a crash. They broke in through the window. She said they had masks on, so she has no idea what they look like. They put a knife to her throat and told her that they were the ones that killed Stefan, and that they could come for her or any of us whenever they wanted to, and not even you would be able to stop them." She waited, expecting him to say something, but he was silent so she continued. "Elena said that they told her to tell you that if you try and go after them, or if we run away, they'll come back and kill us all. I think the only person they want is Elena. For some reason they don't seem bothered about you, even though you're a vampire."  
Damon shook his head. "They're bluffing."

Meredith looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"They're just trying to scare us into staying here so that we're easy pickings. We have to move."

Meredith stared at him. "But that's crazy; if we leave they'll know and they'll find us, and we'll end up like Stefan!"

Damon's eyes flashed angrily. "You'd rather stay in this house and wait for them to come and find us here instead? Either we stay here and wait for them or we move and at least get a good chance at escaping them before they get to us."

Meredith still looked unsure. "But Elena—she can't move now, she's terrified!"

Damon looked her in the eyes. "She's stronger than she looks."

"Damon…" Meredith paused. "I don't know; it's too risky… And besides, where will we go?"

He shook his head again. "Wherever, it doesn't matter. But away from here. It's too exposed in this place; too easy for them to just drop in whenever they want. We need to be covered." He looked up at her. "It's this or waiting around for a slow death. Which would you prefer?"

Meredith glanced down at the floor for a few seconds and then back up to Damon. "All right then," she replied softly.

He nodded once. "Good. Then find the other two and tell them to get their stuff together. Make sure they only take what's necessary—I don't want the redhead taking her entire wardrobe." He inclined his head towards the living room door. "I'll make sure Elena's all right. I want everyone to be ready to go in five minutes."

"Five min—" Meredith started, but stopped when she saw the look on Damon's face. "Oh, fine, I'll make sure."

"You do that." He turned and walked into the living room, and Meredith sighed once again, heading into the kitchen to find Matt and Bonnie.

Damon was surprised to see Elena standing in the middle of the living room, rather than seated anxiously on the sofa like she had been previously, and not asleep as Meredith had said she was. She looked different too; livelier and more alert. He was glad to see it; it was a bit of the old Elena returning, slowly but surely. She looked up at him as he entered the room.

"So we're leaving?"

He did something he rarely did and blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I heard you and Meredith talking." She raised an eyebrow. "We're leaving then?"

He smiled slowly and nodded. "Yes, as soon as Meredith collects the children," he said, gesturing upstairs. He regarded her for a moment. "Are you ready?"

She looked straight back at him and nodded once. "Yes. I'm through being scared. It's hardly going to get me anywhere, is it? If we're going to have any chance of getting away from these guys, we have to run." She gave him a strange look. "You were right."

The smile on his face grew wider. "It's amazing how often that statement is true and yet people are always surprised."

She smiled; the first one he'd seen on her face since he arrived. He was somewhat relieved, but he said nothing. If Elena was suddenly feeling strong again, he didn't want to do or say anything that might upset the balance.

He noticed she had no bags with her, and added, "You might want to take a few things with you."

She frowned. "What for?"

He didn't answer her.

"This is it either way, right? If we get away from these guys, it means starting all over again somewhere else, and if we don't…" She stopped, hesitating for a moment, and then carried on. "If we don't, I won't need them, will I?"

Damon looked at her and then nodded. "You're right."

Elena took a deep breath, and then squared her shoulders. "Well, let's get going then."

She followed Damon into the hallway, where Meredith, Bonnie and Matt were coming down the stairs.

"I don't see why we only had five minutes; it's not like they're banging down the door right now, is it?" Bonnie grumbled as she dragged a couple of bags behind her. Matt was frowning.

"Bonnie, we have to get out of here quickly. The quicker the better. Damon and Meredith are right."

Meredith glanced up at Matt, surprised. It must have taken a lot for him to admit that Damon had been right about something, she thought to herself.

Bonnie was staring at Elena. "Elena—are you okay?" she asked nervously.

Elena nodded. "I'll be all right Bonnie. Don't worry about me; we just have to get away. Who knows when these guys will come back for us?"

Damon, meanwhile, was looking at the two medium-sized bags Bonnie had with her. "What do you have in those bags?" he asked sharply.

Bonnie looked up at him. "Just things I need, you know; clothes, toiletries, make-up, shoes…"

Damon looked her up and down quickly. "You seem to be wearing most of those things already."

Bonnie looked confused. "Well, yes, but we'll need enough clothes to keep us going; you know, warm things in case it gets cold and fancy things in case we go out somewhere—hey, what are you doing?!"

Damon had opened one of the bags and was rummaging around, throwing things out of it onto a heap on the floor. Elena raised an eyebrow, and Meredith hid a smile as he thrust a jumper, some jeans and underwear at the red headed girl. Bonnie looked from the clothes to the vampire, about to protest, but the glare he gave her silenced her immediately.  
"We're leaving now," Damon clarified, turning to walk out of the front door without even pausing to offer to carry anyone's bags.

Meredith sighed, for what felt like the hundredth time, and followed him out along with the others.


End file.
